What Jeannie Pezzoli remembers most about that day were the bloodhounds.

She could see them from her classroom window at the former Pilgrim Memorial School across from the former Wareham Police Station near the current Wareham Town Hall on Marion Road.

And they were barking at the scent of the criminals who shot her father.

Jeannie Pezzoli's father, Raymond Pezzoli, was a Wareham Policeman whose beat included Main Street. His home base was the parking lot that is now named in his honor, Pezzoli Square.

The square will be rededicated in his name in a ceremony sponsored by the Community and Economic Development Authority and open to the public on Friday, August 17, at 10:30 a.m.

Pezzoli was a familiar and comforting presence when he patrolled Main Street in the 1950s, Jeannie Pezzoli said.

"If he saw a pedestrian walking, he would stop traffic," said daughter Jeannie Pezzoli. "My dad would always watch the children, and make sure they were safe."

Pezzoli usually covered the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift. In the early a.m. hours of January 20, 1958, Pezzoli was near Tobey Hospital walking his beat when he saw a car coming down Main Street.

When the car came close to Pezzoli, it suddenly sped away.

"Dad got concerned. Then he saw them again, and it looked like they were looking for something in town," Jeannie Pezzoli said.

Later, it would be said, the four were looking to break into and rob a store downtown.

Pezzoli stopped the car the next time he spotted them. He asked the driver for his identification and registration. The driver did not have a license, and the registration was made out to a woman, whom the driver called his "aunt."

There were four young men in the car. Pezzoli made eye contact with one in the back, and recognized him as a Wareham resident with a warrant on his arrest, Jeannie Pezzoli said.

"So what do you do?" asked Jeannie Pezzoli. "He didn't want to ask the four guys to get out of the car. So he got in, and asked, 'Is it ok if we drive to the station?'" Jeannie Pezzoli said.

Pezzoli got behind the wheel, and started to make his way to the Police Station.

Through the corner of his eye, he saw someone in the back slide something to the person next to him, Jeannie Pezzoli said.

As they made the turn into the Police Station, the guy next to him grabbed the wheel.

"At the same time, my dad felt something cold against his temple," Jeannie Pezzoli said. "My dad realized his only chance at that point was to jump out of the vehicle."

Pezzoli tumbled out of the vehicle as he heard the sound of the gun go off. The bullet missed his head, went into his neck, and landed in the vicinity of his ear canal.

"He just felt like he had a big headache," Jeannie Pezzoli said.

The car landed on a curb. Two of the individuals got out and ran. Pezzoli, miraculously, got up and apprehended the other two.

"That was my father's determination," Jeannie Pezzoli said. "He just wasn't going to let anybody [get away from] him."

A policeman at the station came out to help Pezzoli. The Police Chief also showed up, thanks to the efforts of Pete, a German shepherd who was one of Pezzoli's loyal friends.

When Pezzoli walked his beat, he would often return to the present Pezzoli Square to find Pete waiting for him.

But Pezzoli did not come back that day. Pete ran home, and surprised his owners by coming back so early, Jeannie Pezzoli said. The owners then called the Chief of Police, because they knew something was wrong.

The Police Chief went to the station and arrived soon after Pezzoli got there. Pezzoli survived the shooting, in part because of the added help that the chief provided, Jeannie Pezzoli said.

The whole town came together afterwards, Jeannie Pezzoli said, and raised around $1,500 to send Pezzoli to Bermuda to recover. The chief, who called in the bloodhounds that Jeannie Pezzoli saw the next day, decided that Pezzoli should start walking the day shift.